Raw Vegan Chocolate Frosted Brownies

by Heidi @ Food Doodles on June 4, 2013

For a while now I’ve been wanting to do more raw desserts. Larabar type things are great, but there are so many options when it comes to raw desserts that I want to try! I hope you wont mind as I experiment more with raw treats. I can’t wait to try some more in the summer months when there’s so much fresh, amazing fruit available.

Speaking of fresh fruit, if you couldn’t tell from the pictures, these brownies are so amazing with fresh strawberries!

Of course my version of raw isn’t always completely raw. I do use cocoa powder because, let’s face it, I really can’t afford cacao powder at the rate we would go through it. And maple syrup isn’t technically raw either. So if you want things actually raw, keep that in mind. That kind of thing doesn’t bother me because this brownie is incredibly healthy already and that’s good enough for me.

So moving on… I just want to let you know I made these in a loaf pan as you can see above. I find raw desserts take us a lot longer to eat around our house. Partially because my hubby is pretty picky when it comes to desserts, but mostly because they actually satisfy your sweet tooth without making it worse. You can of course double this recipe and make it in an 8×8 pan. And they do freeze well(and taste SO yummy straight out of the freezer since the avocado doesn’t freeze solid) so making more might be a good thing 🙂

I know the topping looks ever so slightly gritty, but trust me you could not tell. I stopped processing a little prematurely because I was afraid of blowing up my little mini food processor. I was lazy and wanted to make the frosting without washing my regular food processor so I used the processor that came with my immersion blender but this frosting needs to blend a little longer than it can handle to be completely smooth. Just blend until you can’t see any flecks of green and you’ll have the most amazingly smooth frosting ever. And even if it doesn’t look totally smooth, it will be just as good.

Forgive me, I couldn’t pick any pictures to exclude from the post! Enjoy!

Prepare a loaf pan by lining with parchment or plastic wrap for easy removal.

In a food processor first blend the nuts until no large pieces remain. Place the nuts in a bowl. Add the date and process until a "dough" forms - this will happen after the dates are broken up into small pieces, just continue processing.

Once the dates are fully processed, break up the dough with a knife then add the nuts, cocoa, salt and vanilla and process until thoroughly combined. The mixture may not stick together but will hold together when pinched.

Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and press down firmly.

For the frosting, process the avocados, cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla and salt until completely smooth and no green pieces remain, scraping down the sides of the food processor as needed. Pour the mixture over the brownies and smooth out. Cover by placing a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the frosting so that no air can touch it as it will oxidize. Refrigerate 1-2 hours or until ready to serve.

These brownies will last up to 4-5 days covered in the fridge or can be frozen well wrapped for up to 2 months. The top of the avocado frosting may turn darker as the avocado oxidizes but this does not affect the taste

First of all, these are goooorgeous, and I love the way the photos came out! Also, ummm, yes please? I’m not usually too tempted by raw desserts, but you have me changing my tune!Ari @ Ari’s Menu recently posted..How To: Toddy {Cold Brewed Iced Coffee}

These look AMAZING Heidi! I have to try these – I bet my 5 year old would LOVE them! It always makes me feel good to give him something so healthy as a treat – and I bet he’ll never know the difference!

This is great! I used to work at a raw vegan restaurant and we made brownies. But our recipe involved adding the dates to the walnuts and processing. But the walnuts usually ended up releasing their oil after being processed for too long. You solved this by processing the dates separately first. Smart! Thanks for the tip!

That’s exactly why I process the dates separately! I’m not sure if it had anything to do with it but it seems to take forever to process things in my small food processor so I was always getting greasy looking brownies. Not anymore! 🙂 Thanks for your input!

I just tried making these yesterday and WOW…they are insanely good…the “icing” really tastes sinful…My only issue is that there seemed to be a lot more icing than brownie mix. I think it would be best to almost double the brownie mixture. Mine didn’t quite “glue” well together. I accidentally mixed everything in the food processor instead of doing the nuts individually.

This treat is a new favorite and is ADDICTED!! Thank you so much for sharing!! It’s the best vegan “brownie” I have tried in a long time!

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Welcome to Food Doodles!

Hi, I'm Heidi! I'm a mom of 3 kids ages 8 and under feeding my family real food. Heavy on the fruits and veggies but also full of healthy whole grain baked goodies, these are my experiments with good food, my Food Doodles.
Read more on my About page.